11.29.2012

The Syclodoc was a concept that really came into focus in August of last year. I had been thinking about adding a new head to the Armodoc, so I did the normal crazy person pile of sketches, eventually arriving at the "Monodoc" design (though I also liked the simple straight visor look). I even took a few passes at some multi eyed heads, but the single peeper won out.

While I was drawing, I was also playing with some of my old Moon Platoon and Space Britains figures from back in the day. Both toy lines influenced the process, and of course as previously mentioned the iconic Zaku from Gundam was on the brain.

I was initially going to hide another mini visor face on the back side, but decided to emulate the Deep Space Glyan/Hub Set "helmet" instead. So technically, with the right paint job, you could make a beefball Deep Space Syclodoc by reversing the head.

It's been fun playing with the new Syclodoc, and we may just get some more parts to evolve the Armodoc again in 2013.

11.28.2012

This contained build was designed to take advantage of the new paint application to the top part of the old Phase Arm. For years I would make customs using the Phase Arm top piece as a head, developing a small team of "Phase Hunters" that I imagined as a kind of offshoot Gendrone creation that would shadow the Travelers. I usually had some form of a Phase Hunter floating around my little games since we first could use the production parts.

With the introduction of the Hub Set some brand new twists and turns have been added to the equation, allowing for more options in the contained build department. When these new colors were put in for production, they seemed like a fun point to get the new painted Phase Arms into the mix.

Based on the data after many different releases over the years, I've noticed that lots of you buy the accessory sets in pairs. Many orders will come in on a drop night that have 2 of each Phase Arm Sets, 2 Axis Joint Sets and 2 Hub Sets in matching colors. I figured it might be easier to be able to grab all of these in one shot and cut down on the torture of button clicking when everything is going live. It also gives a chance for some contained builds to be available for those out there that are not completely into the act of building but are interested in the end result. Not to mention it consolidates things on the production management side, from shipping to database entry. Hopefully this approach makes some sense!

The Phase Defender is pretty simple, and versions of it have been laying around here for a while, but having the actual newly painted parts helped tighten the final combination that you see above. I really wanted to nail a convincing configuration that could be assembled from only our "accessory" sets, right out of the factory.The longer proportions were incorporated because I was also thinking about using this as a Delphi base body at one point (it can be converted to an even taller design with a few tweaks).

The full build is made from 2 complete Phase Arms, 2 complete Gobon Blasters, 2 complete Hub Sets and 2 complete Axis Joint Sets. Originally I had the back collar armor across the chest, which gave it a pretty interesting look but hindered the movement too much. I also had turned a scarf upside down and put it over the Phase Arm top head turned sideways, which looked kind of spaceknight-ish. I ended up going with the most basic mechanical choices which I think make this little guy more fun to actually play around with. It has a solid feel in hand and holds together well in the pocket. Expect to see this configuration show up again in the not too distant future.

Developed by Traveler Ullexono to act as personal bodyguards for the clandestine Council of Travelers, the Phase Defenders have been outfitted with an experimental Advanced Integration Intelligence , giving them the ability to reconfigure at much greater speeds with heightened precision. They are capable of independent thought and have been described as superior to the Buildman Gendrone for combat purposes.

11.26.2012

UPDATE: Due to some shipping delays that were confirmed just a bit ago, the release date is now planned for Wednesday, DECEMBER 12th, at 9:30 PM EST. So the drop is now on 12/12/12. I'm sorry for the date hopscotch, but shuffling things ensures that we have everything on hand before the sale, and I don't like taking chances with the increasing holiday shipment backup from overseas.

Leading up to the new date we will be posting some special things that
have never been made public before, from production color mechanical drawings (and DIY files), to completely forgotten sketches and pics of lost sculpts. Kind of like the Twelve Days of Christmas, but Glyos style.

I hope you guys are OK with the date change. We promise to make the extra time leading up to the release well worth it!

Sorry for the delay! Photographing these colors made my eyes cross -as per usual! The "Plum" color is especially challenging to nail consistently, mainly because old PMS 3375 is in the highlight role again. I figured we had to end the year with that hue somewhere in the mix! It just screams "sci-fi" to me. The Plum color has a special place in the internal history of Glyos, originally being the first color selection for a specific character back in the early days of production. Can you guess who it was? This combination was what inspired the Dimension Drifters Custom Corps, which was also influenced by the Sentinels from X-Men, those glorious mutant hunting bastards!

This round has a few "contained" builds that will be available straight from the store, fully assembled. The cost is simply the sum of all the components combined. We have received numerous requests to offer these types of builds in their complete form, so let's see how it goes! The Council Guard Phase Defender is made from parts that are only available in its particular build formation. Gendrone Alliance Argen MK VII (a nice mouthful) in his Rig Killer form will be available in a complete form and also as the separate components. I look forward to seeing what you guys think.

-SyclodocNeutralizer (Red/Maroon with Gray detail lines, Black accents, White tampo and mono eye -Armodoc body featuring an all new head sculpt, also includes a fully painted original Armodoc head as a bonus) $25

11.25.2012

The Armodoc design has finally received a brand new head! This new sculpt is a tribute to the various cycloptic characters that we all grew up with, from the Zakus of Mobile Suit Gundam to Shockwave from the Transformers and especially those bad guy robots from the old Berzerk arcade game by Stern (and more than a little bit of Breakman from Megaman thrown in).

I sculpted the master during our recent trip to China, working on it in the hotel room at night and at the factory during the day. My favorite tools managed to make the trip, so that made the process feel much more natural, even though I wasn't in my normal zone. Thanks to Ron whipping up a quick dome buck before we left, I had a solid foundation to chop away at.

I imagine that this new Armodoc operates more like a machine than a free thinking being, created to do the bidding of some very controlling entities who don't like curious travelers...

Specially developed for dark missions of questionable intent by Glyaxia Command, the Sycloriun Engineered Armodoc, or "Syclodoc", possesses nearly limitless destructive capabilities. Through the use of stolen Sycloriun technology, this new breed of Armodoc has been specifically created to obey the direct orders of Glyaxia Command alone, not subject to the same core directives of previous models.Moving to secure its dominion over all of Glyos, Glyaxia Command dispatches a lone Syclodoc to investigate a particularly strange gathering near the Edge of Space...

More pics later today as well as the list of stuff for this coming week!I've been editing like a maniac!

11.20.2012

Above are a couple shots from the upcoming wave. The light blue metallic is close to the original Legion hue from back in the early days, but with a little extra kick. This particular color selection pays homage to a classic toy from my youth, that being Rom.

There are a decent number of colors in this release, ranging from a clear tint that seems to glow with neon intensity, to a color combination that has been long overdue (and a personal goal to finally hold in my hands).

New pics will appear over the next few days, leading up to the full figure list at some point during the weekend. The plan is still to release on November 30th at 9:30 PM EST.

11.12.2012

Thank you to everybody who sent their good vibes our way after the storm. Compared to what NYC and Jersey went through (and are still going through), we were very, very lucky. After some serious clean up work (chainsaw assault) and multiple visits from the electric company, phone company, cable company, local electrician and the all purpose Chris Coxen, the daily activity has just about returned to normal.

The plan is still to release new stuff at the very end of this month (November). At the moment, it looks as though Friday, November 30th will be the day we go live, at the usual 9:30 PM EST. A new product list will be going up soon, just need to verify a couple last details with our team overseas before that happens. Hopefully this drop will round out 2012 in a fun way, at least in relation to little plastic aliens.

I've been drawing like a fiend for multiple projects, working at our dining room table so I can hang around with the kids at the same time. CC seems to be really getting into using markers, as well as telling little stories through her doodles. Michelle taught Cady how to operate the sewing machine, and now Cady has one of her own to use. I can't believe she is able to make her own plush creature from start to finish now. Looks like creative strangeness truly runs in the family around here.

Now that Sandy has come and gone, I keep thinking about the night that everything started falling down, right at the height of Sandy's wind attack. Michelle believes that I might have been warped a bit from seeing nature go on a rampage to such a wild level, and maybe she's right. That being said, I also feel like being in that storm made me even more aware of how lucky we all are.

Alright, enough of my pseudo philosophical crud. Back to the fun stuff!